Cookbook Club: Paris x New York
Last weekend, we had some friends over for dinner. We ate delicious food, drank crisp white wine, and had so much to talk about. The sun was out and that golden hour light made everything feel just a little fancier. Candles burned on the table and I took out the fancy dishes. Everything about that evening was perfect and imperfect in all the right ways. It was the first gathering we have hosted where I was able to use a lot of what I’ve learned from the pages À Table. I also learned a few additional things:
A few tips for hosting a dinner party:
Serve good sparkling water but make sure it doesn’t freeze in your too cold refrigerator or it will explode all over your table.
Plan for long, wonderful conversations around the dinner table, but if you have kids make sure the festivities start early enough to account for bedtimes that don’t feel rushed.
Friends who help do the dishes without asking for permission to do so at the end of a meal are a true gift for those of us who cannot release control in that way with ease.
Hosting is a constant learning process, isn’t it?
At the end of dinner, I was excited to mix up this Paris x New York cocktail. It is a riff on the classic Manhattan and Rebekah Peppler has given it a lovely French twist to reflect her life in both of these iconic cities. Having lived in several cities myself, I am a sucker for recipes that reflect a person’s life through their travels. There is something so personal and endearing about sharing pieces of past and present lives through food and drink. We can’t always bring people along on the journey, but we can share with them a little taste of our experience through our recipes.
Now, in the spirit of honesty, I don’t make this cocktail exactly as written because I’ve haven’t had luck finding one of the ingredients here in Minnesota: Eau de Vie. Because she recommends a cherry Eau de Vie, I simply use a splash of the juice from the maraschino cherries. It works beautifully! But if you have any leads on where to find Eau de Vie, I’d love to try it someday so please share your secrets!
As with my previous Cookbook Club posts, I ask that you either check out À Table at the library or purchase your own copy! If you make this cocktail, or any other recipes from the book, tag me on social with @setthetableblog so I can see!
Cheers, friends!
